Chiropractic

Fibromyalgia

This condition is usually grouped with Chronic Fatigue, for a good reason. The primary symptoms of both are pain, fatigue and sleep problems. The differentiating characteristic of Fibromyalgia is what are referred to as the Fibromyalgia Tender Points, 18 points around the body that are supposed to be specific to this condition. Fibromyalgia is diagnosed if 11 of the 18 are sore to palpation. The literature states over and over that the cause of this condition is unknown. This condition can be debilitating. Like Chronic Fatigue it can occur in cycles and is often made worse by exertion or exercise.

The pain associated with this condition is generalized and has a flu–like characteristic, and tends to be migrating. The pain is often accompanied by fatigue, and like Chronic Fatigue, is not relieved by rest. In fact, patients with this condition are not capable of deep Stage 4 sleep, leading to more fatigue. Other symptoms, like Chronic Fatigue, include allergies, dizziness, digestive problems, environmental sensitivities, tingling and numbness.

My View of this Problem

While clearly Fibromyalgia has a dominant musculo-skeletal component, I am generally underwhelmed by overemphasizing the distinction with Chronic Fatigue, and for that matter, other rheumatic conditions. It is simply not true that these sore points are specific to this disease. I have had my hands on patients for 30 years and find these sore for a variety of reasons, although perhaps having so many of them sore in one patient is specific to this condition. I place my money on this being primarily an infection or infections, but the condition is likely multi-factorial. There probably is no one cause. Many people have recovered from this condition treating a variety of factors such as toxicity, infection, allergy and nutritional depletion. As a note, Dr. Pearlmutter (see http://www.perlhealth.com/) has successfully influenced these cases with intravenous infusions of glutathione, the major detoxifying agent in the body. This underlines the toxic component of this disease.